Julius i



UNITED STATES PATENT Orrrcino JULIUS I. LIVINGSTON, BLOOMINGTON, MARYLAND, ASSIGNOR TO WARREN CHEMICAL AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF NEW roux. N. Y.

PLASTICS FROM PETROLEUM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 239,260, dated 'March 22, 1881.

Application filed December 10, 1879.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JULIUS I. LIVINGSTON, of Bloomington, county of Garrett, State of Maryland, have invented or discovered a new and useful Improvement in Plastics from Petroleum; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, concise, and exact description thereof.

My present improvement relates to that cl ass of plastics solid at ordinary temperatures, but capable of being brought to a fluid or semifluid state by the application of heat, which are generally designated as asphaltum. Ma-

terial or product thus known is generally either a natural product, the most common kind or quality being called Trinidad asphaltum, or else is a product of the distillation of bituminous coal. The former, not being found as a natural product in this country, is so costly as to be practically excluded from many uses in the arts to which it is adapted, and the latter is of such inferior quality that it is unsuitable for many purposes where the use of a material of that kind is highly desirable.

I have discovered or'invented a process by which I am enabled to make from petroleumoil a product having many of the general features of plastics of this class, and of such superior quality that it is adapted for use for purposes for which Trinidad or other like natural asphaltum has heretofore been thought to be necessary, and at the same time I produce it at so small an expense as to render it a desirable substitute both for the natural products referred to and also for the coarser coaloil asphaltum heretofore known; and the product itself I also believe to be new.

While certain features of my improved process will vary somewhat with the different conditions or qualities of the petroleum treated, certain other characteristic and distinguishing features still exist with substantial identity, the principal of which are the removal of the coke or coke-producing elements by deposit from the heavy material operated on, followed by a distillation or driving off by heat of such ingredients or elements as are adapted to produce what are known as illuminating and paraffine oils. The residualproduct gives the asphaltum or plastic above referred to.

In one way of working this process I distill the common petroleum of commerce by any of the known means of doing such work down to about the point when the remaining product in the still is in the condition of what is known as residuum or petroleum tar; but this point may be varied somewhat, especially by arresting the process ot'distillation sooner than thus indicated, so as to leave in the still a residual product which contains some of the elements of illuminating-oil, and which is somewhat akin to what is termed a heavy oil; but this process of preliminary distillation should, by preference, be carried to about the point at which all, or nearly all, the illuminatin g-oil, or the elements which, in the then condition of the material, are adapted to give illuminating-oil, arecarried over. I then draw off the residual product into a receiving tank or vat, and let it stand until the heavier ingredients are well settled, as it is called, or deposited at or near the bottom of the tank or vat. These heavier ingredients (which are apparently the result of what is sometimes called a destructive distillation) include those elements which are commonly classified as cokethat is, they either are coke or, if the distillation were continued, would produce coke, and hence I term them coky elements. Other solid impurities which may be present in the oil are also precipitated in the same way. In this way-that is, by precipitation-I eliminate from the mass the coke or coke-producing elements as well as solid impurities. The lighter top or purified portion is then drawn off and separated from the sedimentary deposit, and is run into a still and redistilled until what are commonly known as the paraffine-oils and the illuminating-oils (if any be left) are driven over; but previous to this second distillation, and after the precipitation of the coky elements, the product to be redistilled may be washed or thinned with benzine, if so desired, which will lessen.

the tendency (if any exists) to form coke during this second distillation; but if it be found that coke is formed to any undesirable extent, or is likely to be formed, the process of distillation may be arrested as before, and the product again drawn off, the coky ingredients be precipitated as before, and the lighter part be subjected to a third distillation, as above described; but it will also be within my process to allow this settling or precipitation of the coky elements and other impurities to take place in the still, after which the lighter or surface residual product may be drawn off to the second or other still, and the operation go on as above described. As soon as the coky elements are thus eliminated and the illuminating and pa'raftine oils driven off, as thus described, the residual product gives a quality of asphaltum possessing most or all of the useful properties of Trinidad asphaltum,

and at a "ery much less cost, far superior to coal-tar asphaltum, and still adapted for the uses for which coal-tar asphaltum is usually employed. It has been found suitable for use in the preparation of paints and varnishes, as well as for paving and rooting purposes. On being drawn from the still afterthe last distillation it comes out in a semi-fluid or plastic condition, but solidifies as its temperature is reduced. It is very brittle when cold, has a bright clear fracture, and is glossy and jet-black. It dissolves readily in coal-tar, coal-oil, crude petroleum and its products, though slowly or partially in the lighter distillates, and it mixes, when heated, with the ordinary asphaltum of commerce, with pitch and pine-tar. The same oils which, in consequence of or as a result of '40 the previous working of the whole or some portion thereof, have acquired to a greater or less degree the characteristics of residual or distilled oil, the essential elements of my improved process being a preliminary distillation, the elimination of the coke or coke-producing elements by precipitation, followed by a distillation of that part from which such elements have been precipitated, until all, or substantially all, the paraffine and illuminating oils have been carried over and condensed.

I claim herein as my invention- 1. The process of making petroleum-asphaltum by eliminating from the heavy residual product the coke or coke-producing elements by precipitation, followed by distilling, substantially as set forth.

2. As a new article of manufacture, petroleum-asphaltum produced from the heavy re.- sidual products of petroleum by precipitation and redistillation, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

JULIUS I. LIVINGSTON. 

